Vehicle information processing device, vehicle, and vehicle information processing method

ABSTRACT

An in-vehicle device, a vehicle, and a vehicle information processing method, which are used, for example, to assist in driving an automobile and can properly communicate a vehicle situation to a driver. Methods and mechanisms express user&#39;s handling of the vehicle by virtual feelings on the assumption that the vehicle has a personality, and displays the virtual feelings by facial expressions of a predetermined character.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a vehicle information processing device, avehicle, and a vehicle information processing method, which can be usedfor assisting in driving an automobile.

2. Description of the Related Art

There have been proposed various methods for detecting varioussituations of vehicles and communicating detection results to preventaccidents.

Vehicles are configured such that a driver can handle freely, while thedriver sometimes finds it difficult to recognize his/her character,driving habit or driving skill. Thus, the driver sometimes drivesinappropriately for surroundings without being aware of it, which maycause accidents. What are difficult for the driver to be aware ofinclude, for example, rapid acceleration, rapid deceleration, abruptbraking that causes the vehicle to pitch forward, a speed appropriatefor a width of a road, and tire wear.

Thus, the methods for detecting the vehicle situations and communicatingthe detection results have been adapted such that a horn sound is issuedto communicate a situation where a traveling speed exceeds a certainvalue and to communicate access to an obstacle closer than apredetermined value, thus providing feedback of the vehicle situation tothe driver to prevent accidents.

However, this type of feedback mechanism may give the driver trouble,and sometimes irritate or annoy him/her. Thus, a mechanism for issuing ahorn sound when a traveling speed exceeds a certain value is notactually mounted in recent vehicles.

As a method for solving this problem, for example, Japanese PatentLaid-Open No. 8-339446 proposes a method for expressing a driver'scondition detected through interaction visually by facial expressions orbehaviors of a character. Similarly, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.9-102098 proposes a method for communicating various warnings or thelike to a driver in a similar manner.

However, these methods have a problem that the vehicle situation cannotbe properly communicated to the driver, though the methods can somewhatreduce the driver's trouble.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is to provide avehicle information processing, vehicle, and vehicle informationprocessing method capable of properly communicating the vehiclesituation to the driver.

The foregoing object and other objects of the invention have beenachieved by the provision of a vehicle information processing devicemounted in a vehicle, in an aspect according to claim 1, the vehicleinformation processing device including: a virtual feeling generatingmeans for expressing user's handling of the vehicle, based on operationinformation and behavior information, by virtual feelings on theassumption that the vehicle has a personality; and a facial expressiongenerating means for displaying the virtual feelings by facialexpressions of a predetermined character.

In an aspect according to the invention, there are provided a vehicleincluding: a virtual feeling generating means for expressing user'shandling of the vehicle, based on operation information and behaviorinformation, by virtual feelings on the assumption that the vehicle hasa personality; and a facial expression generating means for displayingthe virtual feelings by facial expressions of a predetermined character.

In an aspect according to another aspect of the invention, there areprovided a vehicle information processing method including: a virtualfeeling generating step of expressing user's handling of the vehicle,based on operation information and behavior information, by virtualfeelings on the assumption that the vehicle has a personality; and afacial expression generating step of displaying the virtual feelings bya facial expression of a predetermined character.

The configuration according to yet another aspect o the inventionincludes the virtual feeling generating means for expressing the user'shandling of the vehicle, based on the operation information and thebehavior information, by the virtual feelings on the assumption that thevehicle has the personality, and the facial expression generating meansfor displaying the virtual feelings by the facial expressions of thepredetermined character. This allows a driver to feel an attachment tothe vehicle compared to a case where warnings are directly issued bymessages or the like, and allows proper communication of a vehiclesituation to the driver without irritating or annoying him/her.

Thus, the configuration according to the invention can provide a vehicleand a vehicle information processing method capable of properlycommunicating the vehicle situation to the driver.

According to the invention, the user's handling of the vehicle isdisplayed by the virtual feelings on the assumption that the vehicle hasa personality, and the virtual feelings are displayed by thepredetermined character's facial expressions, thus allowing the vehiclesituation to be properly communicated to the driver.

The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become moreapparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts aredesignated by like reference numerals or characters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a processing procedure of a central processingunit according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle device according to the firstembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows characteristic curves used for explaining a feeling leveland a physical fitness level;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a basic screen;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of changes of character's facial expression in acheerful condition;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a basic screen with a tired expression;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of changes of character's facial expression in atired condition;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a basic screen with a lonely expression;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of changes of character's facial expression in alonely condition;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a basic screen with a sad expression;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of changes of character's facial expression in asad condition;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a basic screen with an angry expression;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of changes of character's facial expressions inan angry condition;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a basic screen with a surprised expression;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of changes of character's facial expressions in asurprised condition;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a basic screen with an uneasy expression;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of changes of character's facial expressions inan uneasy condition;

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a condition displaying a feeling of praising adriver for good driving;

FIG. 19 is a plan view of a menu screen of a movie content;

FIG. 20 is a plan view of a replay screen of a music content;

FIG. 21 is a plan view of a replay screen of a movie content;

FIG. 22 is a plan view of a menu screen of a horn;

FIG. 23 is a plan view of a basic screen without a content menu;

FIG. 24 is a plan view of a driving evaluation screen corresponding to adisplay screen in FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a plan view of a driving evaluation screen moved from anavigation screen;

FIG. 26 is a plan view of a navigation screen;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle device according to thesecond embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 28 is a plan view of a driving evaluation screen that mainlyindicates a degree of haste; and

FIG. 29 is a plan view of a driving evaluation screen that mainlyindicates a degree of progress.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Preferred embodiments of this invention will be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings:

(1) First Embodiment

(1-1) A Configuration of the First Embodiment

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle device according to the firstembodiment of the invention. The in-vehicle device 1 is mounted in auser's vehicle for use.

In the in-vehicle device 1, vehicle handling detecting means 2 processesoutput of sensors placed in various operation means used for drivingoperations to detect vehicle operation by a driver 3 and outputdetection results as operation information. Specifically, the vehiclehandling detecting means 2 detects opening of an accelerator pedal as anaccelerating operation by the driver, an operation amount of a brakepedal as a braking operation, presence or absence of stop lamp flashing,a parking brake operation, a steering angle as a steering wheeloperation, a shift position as a shift lever operation, operations of alight, a winker, a wiper, a window, a horn, or the like to outputdetection results. Thus, the in-vehicle device 1 can detect variousoperations of the driver 3.

Vehicle condition detecting means 4 processes output signals of thevarious sensors placed in the vehicle to detect various vehicleconditions to output detection results as behavior information.Specifically, the vehicle condition detecting means 4 detects andoutputs engine RPM, a rotation speed of a wheel, a vehicle speed,anteroposterior acceleration, lateral acceleration, verticalacceleration, yaw rate, roll rate, pitch rate, fuel consumption amount,or the like. Thus, the in-vehicle device 1 can detect various conditionsof the vehicle.

Speech signal processing means 5 receives speech of the driver 3 througha microphone, and performs speech recognition processing to output bycontrolling a central processing unit (CPU) 8. Thus, the in-vehicledevice 1 is capable of speech instruction to switch behaviors.

An operation panel 6 is formed by a touch panel, and is placed on adisplay unit 7 placed at each seat in this vehicle. Thus, the in-vehicledevice 1 is capable of instruction to switch behaviors for each rider oneach seat by operating the operation panel 6. A display unit 7 displaysvarious images by controlling the central processing unit (CPU) 8.

A speech processing circuit 9 decodes and outputs audio data held bypredetermined recording means by controlling the central processing unit8, or performs speech synthesis of various speeches to output. Anamplification circuit 10 amplifies speech signals output from the speechprocessing circuit 9 to drive a speaker 11. Thus, the in-vehicle device1 allows the user to enjoy various visual and audio contents recorded inunshown recording means by the display unit 7 and the speaker 11, andcan provide the user with various kinds of audio and visual information.

Position detecting means 14 is configured by, for example, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) receiving device that is part of a carnavigation system, and detects vehicle's current position to outputdetection results.

The central processing unit 8 is a controller for controlling the entirebehaviors of the in-vehicle device 1, and processes various detectionresults detected by the vehicle handling detecting means 2 and thevehicle condition detecting means 4 by the user's instruction detectedvia the operation panel 6 and the speech signal processing means 5. Inthis processing, the central processing unit 8 personifies the vehicle,generates a visual feeling about driver's handling of the vehicle, andcommunicate the virtual feeling to the user. When receiving user'sinstruction to direct in information communication by the virtualfeeling, the central processing unit 8 processes current positioninformation detected by position detecting means 14 and performscorresponding processing.

Specifically, when the driver 3 drives violently, it can be foreseenthat the vehicle feels uncomfortable if the vehicle has feelings. Insuch a case, an angry, sad or tired expression is provided to a rider asthe vehicle's virtual feeling. On the other hand, when the driver 3drives gently and calmly, it can be projected that the vehicle feelscomfortable in its virtual feelings, thereby providing a pleased orcheerful expression to the rider.

Neumann type computers are not good at processing of pseudo feelingexpressions, and generally require large-scale processing. Thus, thecentral processing unit 8 expresses feelings such as anger or pleasureby two parameters of a feeling level and a physical fitness level.Therefore, the central processing unit 8 expresses the feelings bysimplified processing. In this embodiment, when the driver 3 drivesviolently, it is projected that the vehicle feels uncomfortable, and theangry, sad or tired expression is selected as the vehicle's virtualfeeling. On the other hand, when the driver 3 drives gently and calmly,it is projected that the vehicle feels comfortable in its virtualfeelings, and the pleased or cheerful expression is selected. Suchpseudo feeling expressions are the personified vehicle's emotionalexpressions about the driver's operations.

The feeling level is the vehicle's virtual feeling converted intonumbers, and indicates ease in driving, in other words, a degree ofhaste of the driver by the above described assumption. Specifically, thecentral processing unit 8 calculates the feeling level for each unitdriving time by a basic equation expressed by feelinglevel=(constant×driving time)÷(G variation×rapid operation×suddenbehavior×necessary or unnecessary behavior).

The driving time in this equation is a driving time used for detectingthe feeling level for each unit driving time, and not only a time whenan engine is activated, but also a time after the rider releases thedoor lock and rides the vehicle and before the rider gets off and locksthe door is divided into predetermined intervals and assigned to thedriving time in the equation. The G variation is acceleration in variousdirections detected by the vehicle condition detecting means 4, and usedfor calculating the feeling level with acceleration in each directionconverted to an absolute value and normalized by a standard valuerecorded in an unshown memory. The rapid operation is a rapid operationdetected by operation information of a steering wheel or the likedetected by the vehicle handling detecting means 2, and normalized by astandard value recorded in the memory and used for calculating thefeeling level with the operation. The sudden behavior is a suddenoperation of the brake or the like similarly detected by the vehiclehandling detecting means 2, and after a differential value of theoperation amount is calculated, normalized by a standard value recordedin the memory and used for calculating the feeling level.

The necessary or unnecessary behavior is information for determiningappropriateness of driver's operation, and used for calculating thefeeling level with wiper operation information relative to detectionresults of rainfall by an external sensor converted into numbers.Specifically, for example, when the wiper is operated even though theexternal sensor does not detect rainfall, a low value is assigned to thenecessary or unnecessary behavior. If a speed of the wiper isinappropriate for drizzling rain such as when the wiper is set to highspeed in drizzle, or when the wiper is set to low speed in hard rain, avalue in accordance with the appropriateness is assigned to thenecessary or unnecessary behavior.

A low value is assigned to the necessary or unnecessary behavior alsowhen a door switch is turned off by closing the door after the carstarts, and when the car starts before detection of fitting of a seatbelt. On the other hand, a high value is assigned to the necessary orunnecessary behavior when a series of operations relating to expansivesafe driving such as when turning off of the door switch by closing thedoor is detected, and after a certain interval, fitting of the seat beltis detected, and then after a certain interval, the engine is activated.

Thus, the value of the feeling level becomes low in high acceleration ordeceleration by sudden start or hard braking, abrupt steering, shortdoor opening/closing time, violently closing the door, or the like,while the feeling level becomes high when various operations areperformed smoothly and quietly.

The physical fitness level is the vehicle's physical fitness convertedinto numbers with the vehicle personified, and determined by reservecapacity of driving. Specifically, the central processing unit 8calculates the physical fitness level by a basic equation expressed byphysical fitness level=constant×{(fuel residue÷full)÷(continuoustraveling time÷activating time)}, where fuel residue is residue of fuel,and full is an amount of fuel when full. The continuous traveling timeis a driver's continuous driving time, and the central processing unit 8determines rest time by stops or parking longer than a certain time tocalculate the continuous traveling time. The activating time is the timelapsed from a start of driving, including continuous traveling and rest.

Thus, the central processing unit 8 personifies the vehicle, and whenthe vehicle's hunger is satisfied, and the vehicle has good physicalfitness, the physical fitness level is calculated so as to increase thevalue of the physical fitness level.

The central processing unit 8 assigns these two parameters to sinusoidalcharacteristic curves shown in FIG. 3 to detect a feeling to beexpressed. The plurality of characteristic curves are expressed by aplurality of sinusoidal functions having different phases with thephysical fitness level set to the parameter. The central processing unit8 selects a corresponding characteristic curve from the plurality ofcharacteristic curves depending on the feeling level and the physicalfitness level, and successively switches the selected characteristiccurve by changes in the physical fitness level. The selectedcharacteristic curves are traced in according with the feeling level toset the feeling to be expressed to loneliness, sadness, anger, andcheer, successively.

Specifically, a characteristic curve L1 in FIG. 3 is selected, and whena value of the feeling level is high, the feeling to be expressed is setto cheer. When the feeling level decreases, the feelings of anger,sadness, and loneliness are successively selected. When the physicalfitness level significantly decreases, the feeling to be expressed isset to tired. On the other hand, when the feeling level decreases lowerthan the cheerful condition in spite of the good physical fitness level,the feeling to be expressed is set to unease.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a processing procedure relating to feelingexpression of the central processing unit 8. When the central processingunit 8 receives rider's instruction of a behavior mode of such feelingexpression by operating the operation panel 6 and also by processing ofthe speech signal processing means 5, the central processing unit 8moves from Step SP1 to Step SP2, captures operation information from thevehicle handling detecting means 2, and in Step SP3, captures variousconditions of the vehicles from the vehicle condition detecting means 4.In Step SP4, the feeling level for each unit driving time is detected.In Step SP4, G means Gravity caused by vehicle operation.

In Step SP5, the physical fitness level corresponding to the feelinglevel detected in Step SP4 is calculated, and in Step SP6, the abovedescribed characteristic curves in FIG. 3 are applied to set the feelingto be expressed. Further, the central processing unit 8 displays acharacter on the display unit 7 in accordance with the set feeling, andmoves to Step SP7 to determine whether the user has instructed to endthe behavior mode of the feeling expression.

If negative, the central processing unit 8 returns to Step SP2 to repeatthe series of processing procedures, while if affirmative in Step SP7,the central processing unit 8 moves to Step SP8 to end the processingprocedure.

Concurrently with the series of processing steps, the central processingunit 8 determines the feeling level for each unit driving time detectedby the series of processing steps. If the driver drives violently, asurprised feeling is expressed instead of the above described variousfeeling expressions depending on the driving. Similarly, when the driverdrives very well, a feeling of praising the driver for good driving isexpressed.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a basic display screen of the display unit 7thus formed by the central processing unit 8. The display screen isdisplayed on the display unit 7 at a right seat, and in this embodiment,at a left seat, a display screen is formed symmetrically with respect tothe display screen shown in FIG. 4.

In this display screen, a character's face K expressing the vehicle'sfeeling is displayed on a position closer to a center of the vehicle. Inthe display screen, the character's face K is displayed in a circularform, and a plurality of arcs are displayed concentrically with theoutline of the face. In the display screen, a plurality of buttons B1 toB3 are displayed on the arc substantially at a center of the screenamong the plurality of arcs. In FIG. 4, among the plurality of buttonsB1 to B3, the uppermost button B1 is a button for opening a musiccontent menu, and has an indication of a musical note. The next buttonB2 is a button for opening a movie content menu, and has an indicationof a movie film. The lowermost button B3 is a button for an informationcontent, and has an indication of a flag. The buttons B1 to B3 haveindications “Listen to music”, “See movie”, “Travel navigation”,respectively at their peripheries.

On the other hand, at a top and a bottom opposite to the character'sface K, similar buttons B4 and B5 are displayed. The top button B4 is abutton for opening an operation menu of issuing a horn sound byinter-vehicle communication, and has an indication of a trumpet. Thebottom button B5 is an operation button for activating a function ofspeech recognition, and has an indication of a microphone. Among thebuttons B4 and B5, the button B4 is placed on an arc having a differentcenter from the arc on which the buttons B1 to B3 are placed.

Thus, the central processing unit 8 allows the user to recognize, bydisplaying the concentric arcs, that items selectable by the buttons B1to B4 contains lower order selection items. Placing the buttons B1 to B3and the button B4 on the arcs with different centers allows the user torecognize that the operations are of different types.

In the display screen, the background is divided by the display of eacharc, and its color gradually becomes darker from a character side towarda periphery. Further, the circles spread like bubbles coming up with thesizes gradually becoming larger from the center of the screen toward theperiphery.

The central processing unit 8 displays the vehicle's emotions by thecharacter's facial expressions in the basic display screen thus formed.The central processing unit 8 also changes the color of the backgroundby switching the display. Specifically, the face in FIG. 4 shows thecheerful feeling, and is displayed by animation such that its eyes winkat certain intervals as in FIG. 5 successively showing changes of thedisplay by arrows. When the cheerful feeling is shown, the backgroundcolor is orange that is a warm color.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the tired feeling in contrast with FIG. 4. Inthis case, as shown in FIG. 7 in contrast with FIG. 5, an animationcharacter yawning at certain intervals is displayed. When the tiredfeeling is shown, the background color is blue that is a cool color withtinges of orange.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the lonely feeling in contrast with FIG. 4. Inthis case, as shown in FIG. 8 in contrast with FIG. 5, an animationcharacter feeling uneasy with its eyes roving at certain intervals isdisplayed. When the lonely feeling is shown, the background color isblue.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the sad feeling in contrast with FIG. 4. Inthis case, as shown in FIG. 11 in contrast with FIG. 5, an animationcharacter shedding tears is displayed. When the sad feeling is shown,the background color is blue.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the angry feeling in contrast with FIG. 4. Inthis case, as shown in FIG. 13 in contrast with FIG. 5, an animationcharacter is displayed whose color of the face successively changes tobe enlarged from a lower area toward an upper area. When the angryfeeling is shown, the background color is red that shows passion.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the surprised feeling. In this case, as shownin FIG. 15, an animation character is displayed, each eye alternatelybecoming large or small with its mouth half opened. When the surprisedfeeling is shown, the background remains in the intermediate precedingcolor of sadness or cheer.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the uneasy feeling. In this case, as shown inFIG. 17, an animation character is displayed whose outline of the faceis partly fuzzed, the fuzzed portion successively moving along theoutline. When the uneasy feeling is shown, the background remains in theintermediate preceding color of sadness or cheer.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the feeling of praising the driver for gooddriving. In this case, an animation character of clapping hands isdisplayed instead of the character's face. In this case, the backgroundcolor is orange like the cheerful condition.

When the buttons B1 and B2 are operated, the central processing unit 8makes accesses to unshown recording means to search providablecorresponding contents. Further, the central processing unit 8 switchesthe display of the display unit 7 in accordance with search results.FIG. 19 is a plan view of a display when the button B2 for opening themovie content menu is operated in the basic display screen in FIG. 4.When the button B2 is operated in the basic display screen in FIG. 4,the central processing unit 8 moves the display position of the buttonB2 onto the inner arc. With the movement of the display position of thebutton B2, small circles corresponding to the buttons B1 and B3 aredisplayed on the arc on which the button B2 is displayed.

On the original display position of the buttons B1 to B3, buttons BB1 toBB3 for opening movie contents are displayed. The buttons BB1 to BB3have indications of symbols, each symbol showing a rider who likes thecontent, and details of the contents are displayed adjacent to thesymbols by text together with dates stored in the in-vehicle device 1.In FIG. 19, a symbol of a human face wearing a cap that suggests a boyis assigned to the buttons BB1, BB2, and a symbol of a ribbon thatsuggests a girl is assigned to the button BB3.

When the content selection screen is thus displayed, the centralprocessing unit 8 also displays the emotions by the vehicle's virtualfeelings as in the basic screen. When the original button B2 whosedisplay position has been switched to the inner side is selected in thecontent selection screen, the central processing unit 8 returns thedisplay screen in FIG. 19 to the original display screen (FIG. 4).

When any of the buttons BB1 to BB3 for the contents is selected, thecentral processing unit 8 starts replaying the corresponding content. Inthis processing, when the user selects the music content, the centralprocessing unit 8 displays the feeling expression character, theselection button B1 of the music content, and the selection button BB1of the content selected by the user at the top left end of the displayscreen, and displays details of the content and a date stored in thein-vehicle device 1. Thus, the central processing unit 8 can easilyconfirm which tune the user is now listening to. By selecting thebuttons B1, BB1, the replay of the content is stopped, and the displayis switched to the high order display screen corresponding to eachbutton B1, BB1 (FIG. 4 and FIG. 19).

In this display screen, a jacket of the content is displayed at thecenter, and a symbolized staff notation is displayed behind the jacket.The central processing unit 8 thus allows the user to recognize thecontent in replay also by the displays of the symbolized staff notationand the jacket.

On this display screen, a button BA1 for instructing to turn on/off DSP,volume operating buttons BA2, BA3, and operating buttons BA4 to BA6 forstarting replay, pausing, and stopping replay are displayed at thebottom. The central processing unit 8 switches processing of thecontents in response to the operations of the buttons BA1 to BA5.Between the volume operation buttons BA2, BA3, continuous circlesindicate a current volume. Thus, the central processing unit 8 detectsand displays the emotions by the vehicle's virtual feelings even in thedisplay of the music content replay.

FIG. 21 is a plan view of a display screen when the movie content isselected. In this case, the display screen is formed similarly to thedisplay screen of the music content except that pictures of the moviecontent are displayed, that the button BA1 for instructing to turnon/off of DSP is omitted, and that remaining time is indicated togetherwith the content name instead of the background display in the replay ofthe above described music content in FIG. 20. Thus, in the in-vehicledevice 1, the user can enjoy the music content and the movie content byunified operations.

When the button B3 is selected, the central processing unit 8 displaysthe information content of a travel guide, a gourmet guide, or the like.When displaying a still image content, the central processing unit 8displays page feed buttons in positive and negative directionscorresponding to the content instead of the operation buttons of replayor pause.

When the direction button B3 is operated in the basic display screen,the central processing unit 8 switches the display to a navigationscreen like a conventional car navigation device. This display includesthe speech recognition processing button B5 displayed on the basicdisplay screen.

FIG. 22 is a plan view of a display screen when the horn button B4 isoperated. In this display screen, the horn button B4 is displayed at thebottom left corner on the screen, and the button B4 is operated toswitch the display to the original basic screen (FIG. 4). The hornbutton B4 has an indication of an arc like the indication on theoriginal basic screen, which allows the user to recognize a hierarchicalrelationship of the menu.

This display screen includes three buttons BC1 to BC3 laterally in line.The left end button BC1 has an indication of a symbol showing a bar-likewarning light shaken, and when pressed, issues a message sound “Thankyou” outside the car by the inter-vehicle communication. The centralbutton BC2 has an indication of a symbol showing a bowing person, andwhen pressed, issues a message sound “Please yield to me”. The right endbutton BC3 has an indication of a symbol showing a triangular displayplate that is a warning plate, and when pressed, issues a horn sound.

The display screen includes indications by text of the sounds issued bythe buttons above the buttons BC1 to BC3, and of an operating manner ofthe buttons at the bottom. The central processing unit 8 performsprocessing corresponding to the operations of the buttons BC1 to BC3 inthis display screen.

When the button B5 having the indication of the microphone is operatedin the basic display screen, the central processing unit 8 activate thespeech signal processing means 5 while the button B5 is continuouslypressed. Thus, the central processing unit 8 allows the user to inputvarious speech instructions in the display screen by operating thebutton B5 having the indication of the microphone.

In this embodiment, the speech instructions allows display of a setupscreen of each seat, an air conditioner setting screen, a room lampsetting screen, display switching to the basic screen where the displayof the content selection buttons B1 to B3 is stopped, a drivingevaluation screen, or the like. The setup screen of each seat is ascreen for setting a person sitting on each seat, and in the in-vehicledevice 1, setting the setup screen causes processing of the speechsignal processing means 5 to be switched depending on persons sitting oneach seat, thus performing processing appropriate for the person sittingon each seat. The air conditioner setting screen and a room lamp settingscreen are display screens for setting the air conditioner and the roomlamp, and in the in-vehicle device 1, setting by the display screen iscommunicated to a controller of the vehicle body to set an interiortemperature, or the like and to switch interior air circulation.

FIG. 23 is a plan view of the basic screen where the display of thebuttons B1 to B3 is stopped. When the speech signal processing means 5receives a speech recognition result of “menu off”, the centralprocessing unit 8 displays this display screen instead of the displayscreen in FIG. 4. When the speech signal processing means 5 receives aspeech recognition result of “menu on” with the display screen in FIG.23 displayed, the central processing unit 8 switches the display screento the basic display screen in FIG. 4.

In this basic screen, the character's face K expressing the virtualfeeling is displayed at the center of the screen in an enlarged manner,and the background is displayed similarly to the display screen in FIG.4. The microphone button B5 is displayed at the bottom right corner onthe display screen. Thus, the in-vehicle device 1 can communicate thevehicle's virtual feeling to the user even when the contents are notrequired.

FIG. 24 is a plan view of a display screen that indicates a degree ofhaste when the user instructs to display the driving evaluation screenin the basic screen where the display of the buttons B1 to B3 isstopped, or in the above described basic screen in FIG. 4. In thisdisplay screen, the character's face K expressing the virtual feeling isdisplayed at the center of the screen in an enlarged manner, andcircular traces are displayed concentrically with the outline of thecharacter's face K. The outermost trace is broken at the top and thebottom of the screen such that the trace is divided into right and leftsides with the character's face K at the center. In this display screen,indications K1 to K3 that indicate degrees of progress in driving aredisplayed on the right trace thus divided, and a button BC1 having asymbol of a stethoscope is displayed inside the indications K1 to K3. Anindication M showing the degree of haste is displayed inside the lefttrace.

The central processing unit 8 averages and records the feeling leveldetected for each unit driving time, and detects the degree of haste indriving over a long period. For the indication M of the degree of haste,small circles are placed inside and along the trace of the arc, and thecentral processing unit 8 switches indication colors of the continuouscircles depending on the degrees of haste thus detected. The continuouscircles thus indicate the degree of haste over a long period. The circlecorresponding to the degree of haste thus detected and the character'sface K inside are connected by a line to indicate the degree of haste bythe character's facial expression. Therefore, the in-vehicle device 1can determine good or bad driving at each instant by the character'sfacial expression on the basic screen, and can determine good or baddriving over a long period by the display of the character in FIG. 24.

The central processing unit 8 determines the user's driving skill interms of three factors of safety driving—“skill”, “rule”, and“prediction” by processing of accumulating the information detected bythe vehicle handling detecting means 2 and the vehicle conditiondetecting means 4, and processing of accumulating the feeling level andthe physical fitness level. When a value of the accumulated feelinglevel is high, it can be determined that “skill” is superior. When it isdetermined by road information obtained from the GPS system that atraveling speed is observed, or when the driver always wears a seat beltduring driving, it can be determined that the driver observes the“rule”. It can be also determined whether the driver has superior“prediction”, by frequency of operations of “hard braking”, “abruptsteering”, or the like.

The central processing unit 8 converts the user's driving skill intonumbers in terms of the three factors—“skill”, “rule”, and “prediction”by these criteria of determination. The central processing unit 8 setsthe character's facial expressions by the values converted into numbers,and displays the characters on the indications K1 to K3 of the degreesof progress in driving. Small circles are continuously displayed alongthe outlines of the indications K1 to K3 at their peripheries, andindication colors of the continuous circles depend on the values of theskills. In this embodiment, the driver's driving skill is alsocommunicated by the character's facial expression.

When the button BC1 of the stethoscope is operated, the centralprocessing unit 8 switches the display mainly of the degree of haste tothe display mainly of the driver's driving skill. This display issimilar to the display in FIG. 24, but in this case, the button of thestethoscope is displayed on the side of the degree of haste. When theuser presses any button other than the button BC1 of the stethoscope inthese two display screens, the central processing unit 8 switches thedisplay screen to the original display.

FIG. 25 is a plan view of a display screen of the degree of haste whenthe user instructs to display the driving evaluation screen in a carnavigation screen. As shown in FIG. 26 in contrast with FIG. 25, in thisembodiment, a map is displayed in a trapezoidal display area with ashorter lower side, a current position and a traveling direction areindicated by arrows on the map, and a route is shown by a line of adifferent color, in processing of the car navigation. Balloons above anupper side of the display area indicate by text the current position, anext target position, and a distance to a destination.

In the driving evaluation screen (FIG. 25), the display area of the maphas a frame with a certain width, and on the right and left sides of theframe, the degree of haste and the driving skill are displayed,respectively. This display is similar to the evaluation screen in FIG.24 except that continuous circles indicating the degree of haste aredisplayed within the left frame, that the character's faces indicating“skill”, “rule”, and “prediction” are displayed on an inner boundary ofthe right frame, and that the a symbol of a cup is displayed on thedriving skill side.

The in-vehicle device 1 communicates the driving evaluation during carnavigation so as not to damage an atmosphere in car navigation, that is,so as to provide a good understanding of direction to the user.

(1-2) Operation of the First Embodiment

According to the above described configuration, in the in-vehicle device1 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the vehicle handling detecting means 2 detects theuser's operation of the vehicle, and the vehicle condition detectingmeans 4 detects the vehicle's behavior, and the environment around thevehicle. In the in-vehicle device 1, the central processing unit 8processes such information, and displays user's handling of the vehicleby the virtual feelings on the assumption that the vehicle has apersonality (FIG. 4 to FIG. 18).

Specifically, when the driver 3 drives violently, it can be projectedthat the vehicle feels uncomfortable if the vehicle has feelings. Thus,in such a case, the vehicle feels angry, sad or tired in its virtualfeelings. On the other hand, when the driver 3 drives gently and calmly,it can be projected that the vehicle feels comfortable, pleased orcheerful in its virtual feelings.

In the in-vehicle device 1, the central processing unit 8 displays thevirtual feelings on the display unit 7 by the predetermined character'sfacial expressions (FIGS. 4 to 18), and the vehicle situations arecommunicated to the user via the vehicle's feelings. Thus, in thisembodiment, the vehicle situation can be properly communicated to thedriver.

Specifically, direct advice to the driver such that “Sudden starts andsudden stops occur too often” or “The speed is too high” may irritate orannoy the driver and sometimes causes his/her resistance. However, as inthis embodiment, if the handling of the vehicle is determined by thevirtual feelings on the assumption that the vehicle has a personality,and the feelings are expressed by the character's facial expressions,the user looks back his/her behavior while thinking “why the characteris angry”, or “what I did to irritate the character”. That is, the useranalyzes and evaluates his/her behavior.

This causes the driver to look back the handling of the vehicle withoutirritating or annoying the driver, allowing the vehicle situation to beproperly communicated.

In actual person-to-person communications, to call a partner'sattention, people sometimes provide direct feedback about uncomfortablepoints by speaking or by expressing feelings instead of speaking. Inthis case, the partner looks back his/her behavior while thinking “whyhe/she is angry”, or “what I said to irritate he/she”, and analyzes andevaluates his/her behavior.

As in this embodiment, if the user's handling of the vehicle isexpressed by the virtual feelings on the assumption that the vehicle hasa personality, a person-to-car relationship can be established as if thecar had an equal personality to the driver, and this provides the driverwith feelings such that “why the car is angry”, “why the car is crying”,or “why the car is pleased”. This can provide the driver with theopportunity to look back his/her driving or various operations.

Generally, drivers are careful about not annoying the partner, thus ifthe driver is caused to look back various operations, the driver'sdriving manner, driving skill, and risk prediction skill can beimproved. This improves the driving skill without stress and preventsaccidents.

The car having the feelings can provide the driver with an atmosphere asif the driver were making communication with a creature such as a pet.In such communication, people sometimes enjoy annoying the partner foramusement in contrast with the above. Thus, this embodiment causes thedriver to feel an attachment to the car, and provides enjoyable drivingcompared to the conventional cases. Simply evaluating and communicatingthe driving skill causes no communication with the car, and does notprovide such enjoyable driving.

According to this embodiment, the driver can not only use the vehicle assimple means of transportation, but also feels an attachment to thevehicle as a partner or a pet. Since the vehicle feels pleased when theowner fills the car with gasoline or washes the car, the owner alsofeels pleased and a greater attachment to the car.

Together with the character's facial expression, the background colorchanges, and this change in color also allows the user to recognize thevehicle's virtual feeling easily and through intuition. This ensurescommunicating the vehicle situation to the user even when the userconcentrates on driving.

The in-vehicle device 1 performs data processing of the vehicleoperation information detected by the vehicle handling detecting means 2and the vehicle behavior information detected by the vehicle conditiondetecting means 4 to generate the feeling level indicating the user'sdegree of haste and the physical fitness level of the personifiedvehicle's physical fitness converted into numbers, and to generate thevirtual feelings by changes in the feeling level and the physicalfitness level on the preset characteristic curves (FIG. 3). Thus, thisembodiment can detect the vehicle's feelings by simple processing.

The in-vehicle device 1 determines the operation information and thebehavior information by the standard value recorded in the predeterminedrecording means to generate the feeling level, thus determining thedriver's driving operation by an average driving skill specified by thestandard value to communicate the determination. Therefore, the drivercan determine his/her driving skill objectively and use thedetermination to improve his/her driving skill.

The in-vehicle device 1 detects the feeling level for each predeterminedunit driving time, and expresses the vehicle's feeling at each time, andrecords the feeling level. The records are averaged, and then the degreeof haste in driving over a long period is detected. The user's drivingskill is determined in terms of the three factors of safetydriving—“skill”, “rule”, and “prediction” by processing of accumulatingthe information detected by the vehicle handling detecting means 2 andthe vehicle condition detecting means 4, and processing of accumulatingthe feeling level and the physical fitness level.

In the in-vehicle device 1, the user's speech instruction causes thedegree of haste and the driving skill thus detected to be displayedinstead of the character's facial expression with the feeling, ordisplayed in the car navigation screen (FIGS. 25 and 26). Thus, bycomparing with the driving skill at each time, a driving skill over along period can be determined.

The degree of haste and the driving skill are displayed by thecharacter's facial expressions, so that a user interface familiar to theuser and further a user interface that is unified with the driving skillat each time allow communication of the driving skill over a longperiod.

The operation information or the like is obtained by output of thesensors placed in the vehicle, thus the system may have a simpleconfiguration.

(1-3) Advantage of the First Embodiment

According to the above described configuration, the user's handling ofthe vehicle is expressed by the virtual feelings on the assumption thatthe vehicle has a personality, and the virtual feelings are displayed bythe predetermined character's facial expressions, thus allowing thevehicle situation to be properly communicated to the driver.

The operation information and the vehicle behavior information areprocessed to generate the feeling level indicating the user's degree ofhaste and the physical fitness level of the personified vehiclesphysical fitness converted into numbers, and to generate the virtualfeelings by changes in the feeling level and the physical fitness levelon the preset characteristic curves. Thus, the virtual feelings can begenerated by simple processing.

At this time, the operation information and the behavior information aredetermined by the standard value recorded in the predetermined recordingmeans to generate the virtual feelings, thus providing the user with theopportunity to look back his/her driving based on the average drivingskill specified by the standard value.

The operation information is obtained by the output of the sensorsplaced in the vehicle, so that the series of processing steps can beperformed effectively using the vehicle configuration, thus theconfiguration of the in-vehicle device can be simplified.

The changes in the background color together with the character's facialexpression allow proper communication of the vehicle situation to thedriver.

The user's driving skill is determined based on the operationinformation and the behavior information, and the determination resultis displayed by the character's facial expression that indicates thedriving skill at each time, so that the driving skill over a long periodcan be communicated to the user by the familiar user interface unifiedwith the driving skill at each time.

(2) Second Embodiment

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle device according to a secondembodiment of the invention. In this in-vehicle device 21, the sameconfigurations as the in-vehicle device 1 in FIG. 2 are denoted bycorresponding reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions will beomitted.

In this embodiment, biomedical signal detecting means 25 detects variousreactions on a body of a driver 3 and outputs the detection result.Specifically, the biomedical signal detecting means 25 detects andoutputs heart rate, blood pressure, sweat rate, or the like of thedriver 3. This allows the in-vehicle device 21 to detect a degree oftension of the driver 3.

A data control unit 26 accumulates operation information detected byvehicle handling detecting means 2, behavior information detected byvehicle condition detecting means 4, and various kinds of informationdetected by the biomedical signal detecting means 25, in recording meansto constructs a database 27.

An inferring unit 29 calculates a standard value used for generating thefeeling level and the physical fitness level by the records of thedatabase 27. In this embodiment, processing by the central processingunit 28 based on the standard value causes virtual feelings as in thefirst embodiment to be formed and displayed on a display unit 7.

Thus, in this in-vehicle device 1, the vehicle's feelings are generatedbased on each driver's personality, and the driver's vehicle operationcan be determined in view of each driver's personality. Specifically,some users perform various operations promptly, and some users performvarious operations relatively slowly. If the drivers operations aredetermined without considering such difference among the users, theusers who perform various operations promptly are determined to bealways in haste, and the users who perform various operations relativelyslowly are determined to have good driving skills.

However, as in this embodiment, by accumulating the operationinformation and the behavior information by user's past driving andgenerating the standard value of the feeling level generation byaccumulating the information, it can be determined that even the userwho performs various operations promptly is in haste when he/she isactually in haste, and that even the user who performs variousoperations relatively slowly has good a driving skill when he/sheactually drives smoothly. Therefore, the user's vehicle operation can beproperly determined with the user's personality reflected.

The inferring unit 29 averages the records of the database 27 to detectan average of the information detected by the biomedical signaldetecting means and to process output information of the biomedicalsignal detecting means 25 obtained via the data control unit 26 by theaverage. Thus, the inferring unit 29 infers driver's conditions, anddetects degrees of “sleepiness”, “excitement”, “tiredness”, or the like.

The central processing unit 28 detects abnormal handling of the vehicleby the user in accordance with various kinds of information thusobtained by the inferring unit 29, and based on the detection result,calls a user's attention by a direct message or a horn sound instead ofthe display of the character's facial expression. When operations suchas hard braking or abrupt steering often occur, it is supposed that theuser is in an abnormally excited condition, or abnormally in a hurry. Inthis case, it can be determined that there is a high risk of accident,and it is considered that direct communication of the risk serves toprevent an accident regardless of the driver's feeling. Thus, in thisembodiment, in such a case, the central processing unit 28 calls theuser's attention by the direct message or the horn sound instead of thedisplay of the character's facial expression to prevent accidents.

When it is determined that the driver 3 feels abnormally sleepy,excited, or tired, by the degrees of “sleepiness”, “excitement”,“tiredness”, or the like obtained by the inferring unit 29 in additionto the information on driving, the central processing unit 28 performsprocessing that can avoid such conditions. Specifically, when the driveris sleepy or tired, the central processing unit 28 detects a nearresting place via communication means 30, and sets the resting place asa destination of a navigation system to direct the user to the place forproviding a rest. When it is determined that the user is excited, thecentral processing unit 28 provides the user with music that may calmthe user down by searching a music content recorded in the recordingmeans, or by downloading a music content via the communication means 30.

In the in-vehicle device 21, the data control unit 26 processes speechrecognition results received via speech signal processing means 5 torecord personal information included in user's conversation in thedatabase 27, and use the information when calming the user down. In thiscase, it can be considered that that user's favorite music is determinedby frequency of listening to music by the user, age, hobby,accomplishments of the user, or the like, and provided to the user.

According to a configuration in FIG. 27, by accumulating the operationinformation and the behavior information by user's past driving andgenerating the standard value by accumulating the information togenerate the virtual feelings, the user's driving can be determined witheach user's personality reflected. Thus, the vehicle including thein-vehicle device 21 can be provided with feelings as a partnercorresponding to the driver 3, thus making the vehicle more familiar.

Based on the operation information and the behavior information, theabnormal handling of the vehicle by the user is detected, and based onthe detection result, a warning is issued instead of the display of thecharacter's facial expression to ensure prevention of accidents.

(3) Other Embodiments

In the above described embodiment, expressing emotions simply by thecriteria of the feeling level and the physical fitness level has beendescribed, but the invention is not limited to this, and variouscriteria of determination can be further provided. Specifically,frequency of abnormal behaviors or unnecessary behaviors is divided bythe time when the behavior occurs to obtain a smooth level that directlyindicates smoothness in driving. This smooth level may be added to thecriteria of determination. Frequency of sudden operations is divided bya traveling distance to obtain a safety level that indicates a degree ofsafe ride. This safety level may be added to the criteria ofdetermination. Frequency of acceleration variation is divided by thetraveling distance to obtain a ride comfort level that indicates adegree of ride comfort. This ride comfort level may be added to thecriteria of determination. User's traveling time is divided bynon-traveling time to obtain a casual level that indicates frequency ofwhat is called casual driving. This casual level may be added to thecriteria of determination. Frequency of maintenance such as an oilchange is divided by a traveling distance between times of maintenanceto obtain a maintenance level that indicates a degree of maintenance.This maintenance level may be added to the criteria of determination.These criteria of determination may be applied instead of the feelinglevel and the physical fitness level.

In the above described embodiment, generating the feelings simply bytracing the characteristic curves has been described, but the inventionis not limited to this, and the feelings may be generated by complexprocessing using a neutral network, or the like.

In the above described embodiment, it has been described that when theuser's vehicle operation is determined to be abnormal, the warning isdirectly issued to the user instead of the character's facialexpression, but the invention is not limited to this, and the warningmay be directly issued to the user in addition to the character's facialexpression.

In the above described embodiment, it has been described that when anabnormal condition of the driver such as excitement is detected, astimulus by music is provided to the user to avoid the abnormalcondition, but the invention is not limited to this, and a stimulus tocalm the user down may be provided to the user also when the abnormalvehicle operation by the user is detected. In this case, supposedmethods include relaxing by music as described above, relaxing by aromain the car, providing the rider other than the driver with a picture ofa landscape or the like to calm the rider down and relax the driver,lowering temperature of an air conditioner to calm the driver down, andcalming the driver down by vibration of a seat. It can be also supposedthat a response to an operation amount that is an input value relativeto the vehicle is forced to change to prevent accidents.

In the above described embodiments, expressing the vehicle's feelings bythe cheerful, angry, or sad expression has been described, but theinvention is not limited to this, and a scared or mad expression may beused.

In the above described embodiments, expressing the vehicle's feelingssimply by the facial expressions has been described, but the inventionis not limited to this, and the feelings may be expressed also by voice.In this case, it can be supposed that voice including no words isgenerated such as of a famous robot in a movie.

In the above described embodiments, expressing the vehicle's feelings bythe facial expressions of the predetermined character has beendescribed, but the invention is not limited to this, and the charactermay grow with time. In this growth, the form of the character maychange, or various data relating to driving such as the feeling levelmay be set as parameters to change a speed of growth. A size of the facemay change such that the face becomes small for each dangerousoperation, and in a more surprised condition, the feeling may beexpressed together with a behavior such as jumping in the screen.

In the above described embodiments, expressing the feelings by onecharacter has been described, but the invention is not limited to this,and characters may be switched by, for example, selecting contents.

In the above described embodiments, it has been described that thedisplay of the driving skill includes both the degree of haste and thedriving skill, but the invention is not limited to this, and the degreeof haste and the driving skill may be displayed separately as shown inFIGS. 28 and 29.

In the above described embodiments, it has been described that thedisplay of the driving skill includes the degree of haste indicated bythe average of the past feelings, but the invention is not limited tothis, and movement of the past feelings may be displayed in graph form.

In the above described embodiments, placing the display unit at eachseat has been described, but the invention is not limited to this, andcan be also applied to the case where the display units are placedcollectively.

In the above described embodiments, it has been described that theoperation information and the behavior information by the user's pastdriving are accumulated for use as criteria of generation of the feelinglevel, but the invention is not limited to this, and considering a casewhere a plurality of users use one car, the information may beaccumulated for each user for use as the criteria of generation of thefeeling level. In this case, the criteria of generation of the feelinglevel for the corresponding user may be derived with user verificationby IC card or input of password to perform a series of processing steps.For such personal verification, biometrics information such asfingerprint, blood-vessel arrangement, voiceprint may be used.

In the above described embodiments, it has been described that theinvention is applied to the in-vehicle device, but the invention is notlimited to this, and may be applied to the vehicle itself. Further,instead of expressing the feelings by data processing in the vehicle,various data may be transmitted to a processing center by communicationmeans, the feelings being detected by processing at the processingcenter, and then detection results of the feelings being received anddisplayed by the vehicle.

While there has been described in connection with the preferredembodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications may be aimed, therefore, tocover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A vehicle information processing device mounted in a vehicle,comprising: operation information obtaining means for obtainingoperation information of said vehicle obtained by detecting user'soperation of said vehicle; behavior information obtaining means forobtaining behavior information obtained by detecting a behavior of saidvehicle; virtual feeling generating means for expressing handling ofsaid vehicle by said user, based on said operation information and saidbehavior information, by virtual feelings on the assumption that saidvehicle has a personality; and facial expression generating means fordisplaying said virtual feelings by facial expressions of apredetermined character, wherein said virtual feeling generating meansgenerates a physical fitness level that is physical fitness of saidpersonified vehicle converted into numbers by said operation informationand said behavior information, and generates said virtual feelings bychanges in said physical fitness level.
 2. A vehicle informationprocessing device mounted in a vehicle, comprising: operationinformation obtaining means for obtaining operation information of saidvehicle obtained by detecting user's operation of said vehicle; behaviorinformation obtaining means for obtaining behavior information obtainedby detecting a behavior of said vehicle; virtual feeling generatingmeans for expressing handling of said vehicle by said user, based onsaid operation information and said behavior information, by virtualfeelings on the assumption that said vehicle has a personality; andfacial expression generating means for displaying said virtual feelingsby facial expressions of a predetermined character, wherein said virtualfeeling generating means generates a feeling level that is feeling ofsaid user converted into numbers by said operation information and saidbehavior information, and generates said virtual feelings by changes insaid feeling level.
 3. A vehicle information processing device mountedin a vehicle, comprising: operation information obtaining means forobtaining operation information of said vehicle obtained by detectinguser's operation of said vehicle; behavior information obtaining meansfor obtaining behavior information obtained by detecting a behavior ofsaid vehicle; virtual feeling generating means for expressing handlingof said vehicle by said user, based on said operation information andsaid behavior information, by virtual feelings on the assumption thatsaid vehicle has a personality; and facial expression generating meansfor displaying said virtual feelings by facial expressions of apredetermined character, wherein said virtual feeling generating meansgenerates at least a feeling level that indicates a degree of haste ofsaid user and a physical fitness level that is physical fitness of saidpersonified vehicle converted into numbers by said operation informationand said behavior information, and generates said virtual feelings bychanges in said feeling level and said physical fitness level on presetcharacteristic curves.
 4. A vehicle information processing devicemounted in a vehicle, comprising: operation information obtaining meansfor obtaining operation information of said vehicle obtained bydetecting user's operation of said vehicle; behavior informationobtaining means for obtaining behavior information obtained by detectinga behavior of said vehicle; virtual feeling generating means forexpressing handling of said vehicle by said user, based on saidoperation information and said behavior information, by virtual feelingson the assumption that said vehicle has a personality; and facialexpression generating means for displaying said virtual feelings byfacial expressions of a predetermined character, wherein said virtualfeeling generating means determines said operation information and saidbehavior information by a standard value recorded in predeterminedrecording means to generate said virtual feelings.
 5. The vehicleinformation processing device according to claim 4, further comprisingdata processing means for accumulating said operation information andsaid behavior information by past driving of said user to generate saidstandard value by accumulating said information.
 6. The vehicleinformation processing device according to claim 5, wherein said dataprocessing means accumulates said operation information and saidbehavior information to generate said standard value for each user.
 7. Avehicle information processing device mounted in a vehicle, comprising:operation information obtaining means for obtaining operationinformation of said vehicle obtained by detecting user's operation ofsaid vehicle; behavior information obtaining means for obtainingbehavior information obtained by detecting a behavior of said vehicle;virtual feeling generating means for expressing handling of said vehicleby said user, based on said operation information and said behaviorinformation, by virtual feelings on the assumption that said vehicle hasa personality; and facial expression generating means for displayingsaid virtual feelings by facial expressions of a predeterminedcharacter, wherein said device further comprises abnormal conditiondetecting means for detecting abnormal handling of said vehicle by saiduser, based on said operation information and said behavior information,and said device provides said user with a stimulus to calm said userdown, based on a detection result by said abnormal condition detectingmeans.
 8. A vehicle information processing device mounted in a vehicle,comprising: operation information obtaining means for obtainingoperation information of said vehicle obtained by detecting user'soperation of said vehicle; behavior information obtaining means forobtaining behavior information obtained by detecting a behavior of saidvehicle; virtual feeling generating means for expressing handling ofsaid vehicle by said user, based on said operation information and saidbehavior information, by virtual feelings on the assumption that saidvehicle has a personality; and facial expression generating means fordisplaying said virtual feelings by facial expressions of apredetermined character, wherein said device further comprises skilldetermining means for determining a driving skill of said user, based onsaid operation information and said behavior information, and saidfacial expression generating means displays a determination result bysaid skill determining means by said character's facial expression.
 9. Avehicle comprising: operation information obtaining means for detectinguser's operation of the vehicle to obtain operation information of thevehicle; behavior information obtaining means for detecting at leastentire behaviors to obtain behavior information of said vehicle; virtualfeeling generating means for expressing handling of said vehicle by saiduser, based on said operation information and said behavior information,by virtual feelings on the assumption′ that said vehicle has apersonality; and facial expression generating means for displaying saidvirtual feelings by facial expressions of a predetermined character,wherein said virtual feeling generating means generates a physicalfitness level that is physical fitness of said personified vehicleconverted into numbers by said operation information and said behaviorinformation, and generates said virtual feelings by changes in saidphysical fitness level.
 10. A vehicle comprising: operation informationobtaining means for detecting user's operation of the vehicle to obtainoperation information of the vehicle; behavior information obtainingmeans for detecting at least entire behaviors to obtain behaviorinformation of said vehicle; virtual feeling generating means forexpressing handling of said vehicle by said user, based on saidoperation information and said behavior information, by virtual feelingson the assumption′ that said vehicle has a personality; and facialexpression generating means for displaying said virtual feelings byfacial expressions of a predetermined character, wherein said virtualfeeling generating means generates a feeling level that is feeling ofsaid user converted into numbers by said operation information and saidbehavior information, and generates said virtual feelings by changes insaid feeling level.
 11. A vehicle comprising: operation informationobtaining means for detecting user's operation of the vehicle to obtainoperation information of the vehicle; behavior information obtainingmeans for detecting at least entire behaviors to obtain behaviorinformation of said vehicle; virtual feeling generating means forexpressing handling of said vehicle by said user, based on saidoperation information and said behavior information, by virtual feelingson the assumption′ that said vehicle has a personality; and facialexpression generating means for displaying said virtual feelings byfacial expressions of a predetermined character, wherein said virtualfeeling generating means generates at least a feeling level thatindicates a degree of haste of said user and a physical fitness levelthat is physical fitness of said personified vehicle converted intonumbers by said operation information and said behavior information, andgenerates said virtual feelings by changes in said feeling level andsaid physical fitness level on preset characteristic curves.
 12. Avehicle information processing method comprising: an operationinformation obtaining step of detecting user's operation of a vehicle toobtain operation information of the vehicle; a behavior informationobtaining step of detecting a behavior of said vehicle to obtainbehavior information of said vehicle; a virtual feeling generating stepof expressing handling of said vehicle by said user, based on saidoperation information and said behavior information, by virtual feelingson the assumption that said vehicle has a personality; a facialexpression generating step of displaying said virtual feelings by facialexpressions of a predetermined character; and a step of generating aphysical fitness level that is physical fitness of said personifiedvehicle converted into numbers by said operation information and saidbehavior information, and generating said virtual feelings by changes insaid physical fitness level.
 13. A vehicle information processing methodcomprising: an operation information obtaining step of detecting user'soperation of a vehicle to obtain operation information of the vehicle; abehavior information obtaining step of detecting a behavior of saidvehicle to obtain behavior information of said vehicle; a virtualfeeling generating step of expressing handling of said vehicle by saiduser, based on said operation information and said behavior information,by virtual feelings on the assumption that said vehicle has apersonality; a facial expression generating step of displaying saidvirtual feelings by facial expressions of a predetermined character; anda step of generating a feeling level that is feeling of said userconverted into numbers by said operation information and said behaviorinformation, and generating said virtual feelings by changes in saidfeeling level.
 14. A vehicle information processing method comprising:an operation information obtaining step of detecting user's operation ofa vehicle to obtain operation information of the vehicle; a behaviorinformation obtaining step of detecting a behavior of said vehicle toobtain behavior information of said vehicle; a virtual feelinggenerating step of expressing handling of said vehicle by said user,based on said operation information and said behavior information, byvirtual feelings on the assumption that said vehicle has a personality;a facial expression generating step of displaying said virtual feelingsby facial expressions of a predetermined character; and a step ofgenerating at least a feeling level that indicates a degree of haste ofsaid user and a physical fitness level that is physical fitness of saidpersonified vehicle converted into numbers by said operation informationand said behavior information, and generating said virtual feelings bychanges in said feeling level and said physical fitness level on presetcharacteristic curves.